Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Last week I wrote a post about bike commuting in hot weather. There are many facets to bike commuting and making it work and everyone has to find the techniques and gear that work for their personal commute. This is an ongoing process of trial and error. One such error came this week during one of the many afternoon showers.

In said post I mentioned that a good way to keep cool is to switch to platform pedals and wear sandals. This week I found a draw back to wearing sandals and that's the funk that gets kicked up in the rain.

On a rainy day leave the sandals at home and throw on some crappy shoes you don't mind funking up a bit.

On the topic of funk, yesterday I found another draw back to sandals. They get funky, making your feet funky, and that makes everyone around you a little funky. Yesterday I had to put a fan under my desk to combat the funk. When I got home I soaked the Tevas in antibacterial soap water. The funk is gone and I am a little wiser.

I'll still sport the Tevas in the summer but I'll be ready for funk for sure.

3 comments:

Footwear gets tricky in the summer... Much as I dislike stinky sandals, wet cycling shoes are also a bummer. I use the Shimano sandals for my summer commute, but on occasion, I catch a whiff of that funk you're talking about. Bleah!

There are few odors more powerful in the sandal funk world than Teva funk. I wear Chacos and they recommend cleaning them in the washing machine and air-drying. I have also heard of top-shelf dishwasher rack washing, too.

Teva are known for the production of the stinkiest sandal funk you can obtain. Chacos are a bit better in terms of funk and also in terms of quality and function. One of the best ways to treat the beloved sandal funk is to do the following:1 - use a soft bristled tooth brush and go at the footbed with vinegar and lemon juice.2 - soak in a bucket with lukewarm water and a mixture of vinegar and 7th Generation dish soap (make it bubbly first)3 - Rinse and wash in the washer with a load of rugs so that they can get tossed around and scrubbed really well without damaging nice clothes. Washing by themselves is wasteful of water.4 - air dry.5 - After they are dry, place in a ziplock style freezer bag (one bag per sandal) and put in the freezer for 24 hours. Save the two freezer bags and reuse them for this process over and over again until they fall apart (this will take a couple years at least).6 - Wear those clean, odor free sandals until they get the funk again.7 - Do this process about once every month or two if you are wearing them a lot and your sandals will smell relatively decent.